Hey guys, Cl***ic Ford newbie, there's some really great info here, glad I found such a great site! I just recently picked up a 54 Ford Customline with the 223 I6, I'm pretty familiar with old aircooled VWs, but this will be my first old American car. Hopefully I'll be able to post some pics of her this weekend. The seller mentioned it does occasionally have vapor lock issues when it's hot out. This has me a little worried, I'd hate to get stranded somewhere precarious. Anyone have experience with these issues and what they did to resolve it? The car has a new fuel pump and filter and most of the lines are just a few years old. I'm thinking I'll start with insulating the fuel lines under the hood with some header tape or insulating sleeves. My other consideration is a small inline fuel pump and fuel pressure regulator. So far what I'm considering are; Mr. Gasket 42S in-line self priming pump Holly 12-804 1-4PSI regulator Would these be a good fit for my application and help reduce vapor lock issues? Anyone know where I can find the carb fuel pressure specs so I know what to set the FPR to and don't flood it? Any different suggestions to help prevent any fuel problems? Hopefully adding an electric pump won't kill my mileage too much. Thanks guys! Ben
Fuel pressure should be 4-5 psi from the Ford Shop Manual,before you buy an electric pump put the regulator between the stock pump and carb,you might add the insulator sleeves which is knd of what was done "back in the day" we would double wrap the fuel lines with wrinkled aluminum foil and a clothes pin every 6".Sounds hokey, but it worked!(And "traditional" LOL!)
You really don't want an electric fuel pump . They are very noisy to say the least . You can also reroute the fuel line and try that also . Do you have an in-line fuel filter ? Sometimes that will cause some problems too . Jim
Awwww.... the clothespins and foil...... the memories..... I had a 53 Chevy that looked like a porcupine with so many clothespins and my mom was pissed I stole them from her line.
All the old tips and tricks will help, but nothing will reverse the lowered boiling point of gasoline caused by the addition of 10% (or more) of alcohol. This is why older cars are having vapor lock problems in the hot weather. It used to happen back in the days before gasohol, but less frequently than now. Newer cars have fuel injection and constant flow fuel systems whereby the fuel not used by the engine is pumped back into the tank to be recirculated. This prevents the fuel from becoming overheated as it isn't in proximity of the engine for long enough. I had a low-pressure in-line fuel pump on my old flathead-powered shoebox with a manual switch under the dash. I used it only when vapor lock began to effect performance and shut it off at all other times. Modern in-line pumps are not noisy, at least mine wasn't. You can barely hear it running, even when the motor is shut off. In-line pumps are not fastened to the frame or the body so they cannot telegraph vibrations to areas of the car that will convert the vibrations to sound. The only concern is the flex line between the steel line on the firewall and the stock fuel pump. This line is not pressure-rated as it is a suction line in its original function. A tiny hole in this line can spray fuel all over your motor...instant fire! Mine did this, but I was very lucky. I had just started the motor, I smelled the gasoline and shut the motor off before the gasoline ignited. If the motor had been hot it would have gone up in flames for sure! Good luck!
Boy o boy I've been having the same problem for ages. If I idle for a long time it will vapor lock sure as hell. I put an electric pump on it and that did delay the process but it didn't do away with it. I have one of those clear filters and you can see the fuel boil. I can run a stream of water from a water hose on the fuel pump and it will idle all day and not vapor lock. The line going to the fuel pump is cool enough to touch but apparently going through the pump really heats it up. My next move is to replace the dual diaphragm pump (I'll get electric wipers eventually) with a single diaphragm one from a 390. I am going to make a gasket with two thin pieces of aluminum on each side of a regular gasket. I will have the line coming out of the pump extended straight out for at least an inch before the bend to the carburetor and keep it away from the engine the best I can. Last it won't get any ethanol if I can help it but that may be hard to find. It will have at the minimum mid grade gas and 93 if it has to be ethanol. I hope this finally does it.
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